Pepijn Pillen

Connecting change with people’s personal interests

My fascination for learning and change processes was awakened during my studies in Social Psychology and Employment and Organisational Psychology. I support individuals and organisations in finding new ways of working. A development-oriented perspective provides room for learning and collaboration and delivers a lot of working enjoyment. Important elements in this perspective are: having influence on your own development, success experiences as a rich source for learning, and personal interests as the starting point for creating a shared vision.

Any cultural or organisational change begins with changing the behaviour and thoughts of the people who work in the organisation. That is why I enjoy designing and supporting a change process with people who have the energy to make an active contribution and who have an interest in the objective.

I like to support them in discovering which behaviour makes them effective, or what hinders them in having impact. That is the first step to developing new, more effective behaviour, in the sense that it helps a team or organisation to reach its objective. Which is – to change.

When a team or group is involved, it is important that the objective behind the change effort is the result of a shared decision process, based on the personal interest of each individual. You will participate in a change process only when there is something at stake for you.

That’s not so easy in every context, for example in hierarchical organisations or in the development projects that I am working on in South Africa. In those environments it can be difficult to introduce the perspective of personal connection and personal interest. What I look for then are people who believe in such a perspective and are prepared to dedicate themselves to that. In this way we can combine strengths and create an ‘undertow’ rather than a counterflow – we can make something big, by building on small beginnings.

I learn a lot from the people I work with. In that way I can keep on innovating myself.